This is a bow I am finishing up for a buddy of mine. A few guys asked me how I did the stippling on the grip, so I took a few pics as I did this one. This one has a little more carving into it than I usually do, but still came out well.
I like to tape around the area I am going to be doing...you can just draw it out with pencil also. Seems like I just do better with the tape! The riser is finished sanded to 180 grit when I start, when I am done i go over the whole thing with 220.
He wanted a Elk Antler in the handle, so I drew it out on the tape and cut it out with the knife.
All of the work is done with a Dremel.
I use the smaller of the two bits to carve a line around the antler and the larger to make the stipples.
After i get all the stippling done, I go back with this bit (not sure what it is called, but you can see it in the pic) and blend all the stipples together...kind of in a swirling motion.
I like the way this comes out, kind of looks a feels like the base of an antler...about the only thing I can compare it to.
After that, I finish carving a little deeper around the antler and then go over the whole thing with 220 grit paper.
This is how it looks now with a coat of semi-gloss Krystal...with that figured Bocote, it is hard to see the outline of the carving. It should look better once it is finished up with the Flat Krystal.